Promise
by HappyBlushCalayapie
Summary: "You'll marry me, right? Promise?" Hikaru said, holding his hand with the blue ring. "Promise." They kissed. HikaKao oneshot.


Title: Promise  
Anime: Ouran High School Host Club  
Pairing: HikaKao

"Hikaru, Kaoru… how much do you love each other?" the two boys blinked at the guest, surprised that she was bold enough to ask. They looked at each other, slowly smiled, and then looked back at her. Hikaru then glanced at his brother.

"Should I tell her that story?" he asked.

"By all means. I love that story, anyway." Kaoru's soft blush and smile were genuine, and not part of the act. This wasn't what they had planned, but the girls would very much enjoy the story.

_The Hitachiin twins were probably around seven years old at the time. The outdoors was a snow storm, and they were cuddled up in bed together, snuggling closely together for warmth. It wasn't bed time, but they had no desire to get up. They felt like they could sleep all day ever day with how the house felt right now._

"Hikaru?" Kaoru whispered as though somebody would hear.

"Mm?" Hikaru answered, waiting for his little brother to speak. Kaoru cuddled closer to him, giving him a hug.

"I'm cold. Hold me?" he asked as though the answer would be 'no'. His brother just smiled at him and held him back.

"Okay."

A few minutes later, Kaoru said,

"Hikaru?"

"Mmhm?"

Kaoru did something surprising. He leaned up and gently kissed Hikaru on the lips for a moment. Hikaru blinked at him for a moment.

"What was that?" he asked.

"A kiss. Mommy and Daddy do that because they love each other, so I wondered why we had never done it before."

"Oh…" Hikaru whispered, more to himself than Kaoru. He touched his lips. They tingled a little bit. He blushed, not understanding why.

"Mommy said that her and Daddy were as close as two people could be… and they told us we are, as well. They're married. Does that mean we should be, as well?" Kaoru asked shyly, blushing. Hikaru smiled at him.

"Do you want to marry me?" he asked.

"Really? You'd like to?" Kaoru asked excitedly.

"Sure! I love you… so we should get married." The love in Kaoru's eyes was a look that Hikaru had never seen before. Kaoru kissed him again, so very happy. He pulled away again. "Married people kiss… so, it's only right…" he kissed him back, but briefly.

They held each other close, and fell asleep for several hours until nightfall came and the rest of the household was asleep. Kaoru felt around, realizing that some of the warmth was gone.

"Hikaru?" he whispered, seeing that he wasn't there. He then saw his older brother crawling back into bed, holding something that he couldn't see because it was too dark. "What are those?" he asked.

"Engagement rings." Hikaru answered matter-of-factly. "I'm not sure how we're supposed to wear them, but we can't get real married-couple rings until we're older and have the money. So we'll wear these until then." He put the string ring on Kaoru's pinky, and then one on his own.

"Let's turn on the lamp. I wanna see them." Kaoru said, smiling. Hikaru nodded and did so. Kaoru's was blue, and Hikaru's was pink.

"You'll marry me, right? Promise?" Hikaru said, holding his hand with the blue ring.

"Promise."

They kissed.

~~~

The next day…

"I'm going to marry Hikaru when I grow up!"

"And I'm going to marry Kaoru!"

They were both innocent and cute, so their parents thought nothing of it. They always thought they were cute when they said such innocent things. They never ruined the idea for them, either. Then again, they _**would**__ have if the twins had ever brought it up again as they got older._

The girls were giggling, blushing, and hugging each other, the flames of moe extra high and hot. The twins smiled at each other reassuringly.

~~~

That evening, though, when they went home, they hadn't said another word to each other. Things were tense between them. Until they were ten years old, they hadn't had it explained to them that they had to marry girls… and that they weren't supposed to love each other as more than brothers.

They walked upstairs together. Hikaru laid down on the bed and sighed, his face down in a pillow. He stayed like that for several minutes. Kaoru searched through some drawers until he found a small box, and opened it. He looked at their engagement rings from when they were children and felt so sad and lonely all of a sudden. Hikaru stood up and walked up behind him, and saw the rings.

"When we were ten, we said we'd get rid of those, though." Hikaru whispered. Kaoru immediately snapped the box shut, having felt startled because he though his brother was laying down.

"I didn't want to…" Kaoru whispered, his orange hair falling over his eyes. He felt like crying.

~~~

The next day, it was Saturday. Hikaru woke up first. He saw a note on Kaoru's pillow that read:

**Hikaru,**

I went on a walk. I'll be back later.

-Kaoru

Hikaru frowned. A long time ago, when they had said that they would get rid of their rings, they had agreed to stop saying 'I love you', anymore. He used to end his notes with, 'love, Kaoru'. He would end his own with, 'love, Hikaru'. Stopping that tradition after ten years of doing that hurt. It was five years since they had stopped, and it _still_hurt. He felt like going on a walk, himself.

Hikaru flung some clothes on, not caring whether they particularly matched—which, luckily, they did—and walked with his wallet in his pocket into the nearest town. He looked through windows into various shops. He found himself surrounded by shops where men that were going to marry the woman they love entered the shops to buy gifts for the one they loved most. He sighed, feeling sick.

'It's not like I'd actually give him the ring, after all…' he thought. 'But… it wouldn't hurt to buy one just to look at, right?' he stood in front of the shop door for a very long time before entering it. He looked at various rings. None of them were what he wanted for his brother… not that he was going to give it to him… just… to have it. Then, he saw it: a ring with a blue gem in the center. It's exactly what he would have bought him when they were kids if they had had the money at the time. They couldn't get married, no matter what… but if he wanted to, he would have a secret ceremony between himself and Kaoru, and they could pretend that it was real because the rings were. Not that he ever had the guts to seriously do it. He bought the ring, and left the store. He kept the ring in his pocket.

That evening, he returned home and decided to put the ring in the box where their old rings were. When he opened it, not only were there the rings from when they were kids, but so was an identical ring to the one he had bought, only it was pink. He felt his eyes well with tears as he gently picked it up, and put it on the correct finger.

'Married…' he thought, holding his left hand to his chest as though it were the most precious thing to him. The door opened, and there stood Kaoru, watching him. He gasped, turning away from him so that his hair hid his eyes. More tears slid down his cheeks.

"I… I was just looking, that's all…" he whispered. If he had spoken up, his voice would have cracked. He had to pretend that everything was alright. Slowly, Kaoru approached him, embracing him from behind. He felt the back of his shirt grow moist with his little brother's tears. Kaoru sniffled, pulling him closer.

'I want to give him the ring…' Hikaru thought. He touched his right pocket, where the new ring in it's black, velvet box was. He handed it to the younger twin without looking at him, and it took Kaoru a moment to notice it.

"Huh?" Kaoru said. He touched the box, and took it in his hands, letting go of Hikaru. He opened it and only cried more, his finger passing over the ring and its beautiful features before he put it on, as well. He embraced Hikaru again, touching Hikaru's hand with the ring on it to show him that they were both wearing them. Hikaru tried not to cry harder, but his heart was breaking. They both bought the rings for each other, after all of these years…

"Hikaru…" Kaoru whispered, trying to keep his own voice from cracking. "The offer is still open, right?" his on heart was breaking, as well. If Hikaru said no… he didn't know what he was going to do. Hikaru shakily held his hand with both of his own.

"It… would be a lie if I said… I didn't want to…" Hikaru whispered. "I'm so scared…"

"We… don't have to tell anyone… ever…"

"I…" Hikaru slowly turned to face him, showing him his weakness as he pressed his lips to Kaoru's after five years of waiting. Kaoru held him as they kissed. They broke away slowly, as if they were afraid that if they pulled away, they could never do that ever again. "Want to marry you." He whispered. "Even though it's wrong. Marry me…"

"Hikaru… I don't care if it's wrong. Nobody will know except for us." Kaoru kissed him again. He kissed him again, wrapping his arms around his neck. Hikaru slowly smiled as his tears stopped flowing. He wiped the final tear from Kaoru's eye, and whispered so that only Kaoru could ever hear it,

"This makes us married."


End file.
